Hacker News: hddherman

New comment by hddherman in "Improving my focus by giving up my big monitor"

hddherman — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 17:06:01 +0000

Author here, I've actually worn glasses since I was 8. :)

That's why I highlighted GNOME getting usable fractional scaling out of the box, it makes all the difference. Previously I relied on the large text accessibility feature, but toggling it on/off depending on what monitor I used was a pain.

New comment by hddherman in "Installing Java in 2025, and Version Managers"

hddherman — Fri, 28 Nov 2025 07:18:26 +0000

It's really handy for switching between projects that are on different Java versions, plus tools like IntelliJ pick up on the correct version via the SDKMAN! configuration as well.

New comment by hddherman in "Do not put your site behind Cloudflare if you don't need to"

hddherman — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 14:42:57 +0000

In the current context, isn't Cloudflare a single point of failure?

New comment by hddherman in "Ventoy: Create bootable USB drive for ISO/WIM/IMG/VHD(x)/EFI Files"

hddherman — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 15:07:50 +0000

If anyone is wondering, then there are Ventoy alternatives like IODD [0], but they are not perfect. Usable, but annoying in some aspects.

[0]: https://ounapuu.ee/posts/2025/02/14/iodd-st400-review/

New comment by hddherman in "Testing two 18 TB white label SATA hard drives from datablocks.dev"

hddherman — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 04:46:37 +0000

I have considered going that route, but I'd have to switch to a platform that supports those formats and that will likely be too expensive for me as a hobbyist.

New comment by hddherman in "Testing two 18 TB white label SATA hard drives from datablocks.dev"

hddherman — Sun, 12 Oct 2025 14:14:27 +0000

On my ThinkPad T430, I have a weekly full discharge cycle set up using "tlp recalibrate BAT0", it helps avoid that issue and helps confirm that the battery is still functional.

New comment by hddherman in "Testing two 18 TB white label SATA hard drives from datablocks.dev"

hddherman — Sat, 11 Oct 2025 18:24:52 +0000

Hello, author here! It's a nice surprise to notice my own post here, but the timing is unfortunate as I'm shuffling things around on my home server and will accidentally/intentionally take it offline for a bit.

Here's a Wayback Machine copy of the page when that does happen: https://web.archive.org/web/20251006052340/https://ounapuu.e...

Invading the Huum Uku WiFi Controller

hddherman — Tue, 27 May 2025 04:18:18 +0000

Article URL: https://kaurpalang.com/posts/invading-the-sauna/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44103923

Points: 38

# Comments: 2

New comment by hddherman in "Why Blog If Nobody Reads It?"

hddherman — Sun, 09 Feb 2025 19:28:22 +0000

> You’re not just writing for today’s invisible audience. You’re writing for:

> Future you. Your posts become a time capsule of your evolving mind.

Fully agree with that one. My own blog has become a public diary of my hobby and it's great to see what I've been up to and how wrong I was about certain predictions and assumptions, especially about the ones that say that I'm done reworking my home server setup, multiple times.

New comment by hddherman in "HMD Key – A lightweight, affordable smartphone"

hddherman — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 13:22:15 +0000

> Another key area this device hasn’t cut back on is its security. Quarterly security updates for 2 years² will help keep everything safe and sound.

That's a criminally short support period, and a great way to produce even more e-waste.

New comment by hddherman in "Wi-Fi and the Problem with Radar (DFS)"

hddherman — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 18:21:22 +0000

I have also run into issues with DFS in the past[0] without fully understanding what was wrong, until my friend let me know that this is a thing. Choosing a static Wi-Fi channel that's outside the DFS range, or limiting the selection of channels to exclude the DFS channels has worked well for me.

[0]: https://ounapuu.ee/posts/2024/11/11/openwrt-dfs/

New comment by hddherman in "AAA Gaming on Asahi Linux"

hddherman — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 14:41:25 +0000

It is if you don't navigate to it via HN.

Pretty damning stuff that I wasn't previously aware of.

New comment by hddherman in "Only Use Old Computers"

hddherman — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 14:34:06 +0000

I heard a saying recently that went along the lines of "engineering without constraints isn't engineering", and after reading "The Performance Inequality Gap"[0] and its follow-up series "Reckoning"[1], I'm convinced that software developers should use lower end devices so that they, too, feel the pain they're inflicting on others.

Running cheap hardware is fun and will make you want to improve your craft.

[0] - https://infrequently.org/series/performance-inequality/

[1] - https://infrequently.org/series/reckoning/

New comment by hddherman in "My Homelab Setup"

hddherman — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 03:50:37 +0000

It's possible to give constructive feedback without being mean-spirited.

New comment by hddherman in "Ditching EVs for Hybrids Is Already Paying Off for Automakers"

hddherman — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 15:53:42 +0000

Plug-in hybrids are much more suitable for environments where you simply don't have the charging infrastructure at home. This is also unlikely to change in the near term (10-20+ years) if my home town is anything to go by (Tallinn, Estonia), older apartment buildings barely have enough funds to handle renovating the buildings for better energy efficiency.

New comment by hddherman in "They don't make 'em like that any more: the 3.5mm headphone jack socket"

hddherman — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 14:49:50 +0000

Fairphone has made Fairbuds [0] and Fairbuds XL [1], both with easily replaceable batteries. So at least there is one option out there.

[0] https://shop.fairphone.com/fairbuds

[1] https://shop.fairphone.com/fairbuds-xl

New comment by hddherman in "They make USB-C cables with displays now"

hddherman — Mon, 17 Jun 2024 07:43:14 +0000

Thanks for the heads-up, I'll look at mine in a different light from now on.

New comment by hddherman in "Ventoy: Remove BLOBs from the Source Tree"

hddherman — Sat, 15 Jun 2024 17:10:05 +0000

I remember giving that a go many years ago. Not 100% successful, but when it worked, it was fantastic. It would be incredibly handy nowadays, especially for troubleshooting use cases. OS installation, memtest, clonezilla, portable Windows installation, and you'll always have them with you since you're already carrying your phone!

New comment by hddherman in "Ventoy: Remove BLOBs from the Source Tree"

hddherman — Sat, 15 Jun 2024 16:52:45 +0000

The demand for a Ventoy-like tool is clearly there, but I hope that one day we'll have an alternative that we can actually trust. Until then it seems that having a small collection of USB sticks is still the way to go, the inconvenience is preferable to the whole installation getting compromised.

New comment by hddherman in "Why MSFT Copilot+ and AI PCs are the final nail in the coffin of open computing"

hddherman — Wed, 22 May 2024 04:31:22 +0000

I recently installed Debian 12 running XFCE desktop environment on a ThinkPad T40 for fun. The T40 was released 21 years ago, so not quite 25 but close enough.

I could load my blog with it on a modern version of Firefox. It was not fast, but I could still do it!